Biographical Index to Documentation and Information Science History

  Paul Otlet, Pioneer of Information Management.

Translations of this page:
Пол Адлёт, Піянер кіравання інфармацыяй, Belarussian translation by the Translator Group, 2017.
Bengali translation by CouponBuffer.com (Nazmun Nahar), 2017.
Paul Otlet, Pionir Upravljanje Informacijama. Bosnian translation by Amina Dugalić, 2017.
Пол Отлет, Пионер в управлението на информацията, Bulgarian translation by Zlatan Dimitrov, Mar 2020.
*New* 保罗·欧特莱 (Paul Otlet 1868-1944):信息管理先驱, Chinese translation by Matthew Ma of Ecigator, Nov 2022.
Pavao Otlet Pioneer za Upravljanje Informacijama. Croation translation by Ivana Horak, 2017.
Paul Otlet, Průkopník řízení informacíi. Czech translation by Ivana Horak, 2017.
Paul Otlet page. Danish translation by BorderCollieTalk.
Paul Otlet. Dutch translation by www.simonlydiscount.nl (Michel Blok), 2018.
Paul Otlet, pioneer teabe haldamine. Estonian translation by Johanne Teerink, 2017.
Paul Otlet, edelläkävijä Tiedonhallinta. Finnish translation by Elsa Jannson, 2017.
Paul Otlet, Pionnier de la Gestion de l’Information. French translation by Jimmy Anastasovski, 2017.
პოლ ოტლეტი/Paul Otlet, ინფორმაციის მენეჯმენტის პიონერი. Georgian translation by Ana Mirilashvili, Jan 2020.
*New* Paul Otlet, der Pionier des Informationsmanagements. German translation by SmartWritingService, Feb 2022.
Hungarian translation by Elana Pavlet, 2016.
Paul Otlet, Pioneer Manajemen Informatika. Indonesian translation by Jordan Silaen at ChameleonJohn, 2016.
Paul Otlet, Pioniere di Gestione dell’Informazione. Italian translation by Musicskanner.com, 2017.
  アウトレット – 日本. Japanese translation by Haruto Anami at Daily Deals Coupon, 2017.
Пол Отлет, ақпаратты басқарудың пионері. Kazakh translation by Alana Kerimova, 2019.
*New* 폴 오틀렛 (Paul Otlet), 정보 관리의 선구자, Korean translation by Yue Hu of PlayerAuctions, Nov 2022.
Павле Отлет, Пионер на управување со информации. Macedonian translation by Katerina Nestiv, 2016.
Paul Otlet, Foregangsperson informasjonsforvaltning. Norwegian translation by Lars Olden, 2018.
Paul Otlet: Pionier Zarządzania Informacją". Polish translation by Marek Murawski, 2018.
Paul Otlet. Portuguese translation by Artur Weber and Adelina Domingos for www.homeyou.com/~edu/, 2017.
ਪੌਲ ਓਲਟ, ਸੂਚਨਾ ਪ੍ਰਬੰਧਨ ਦੇ ਪਾਇਨੀਅਰ, Punjabi translation by Discount Codes, 2018.
Paul Otlet Pionier al managementului informatiilor. Romanian translation by Irina Vasilescu, 2017.
Пол Отлет, пионер в области управления информацией. Russian translation by Olha Fiodorova, 2017.
پال اوٽليٽ ، انفارميشن مئنيجمينٽ جو پينئ . Sindhi translation by Muntazir Mehdi, Jan 2021.
Paul Otlet, Pionier of Informačného Manažmentu. Slovak translation by baccarat.net, July 2020.
Paul Otlet, pionir informacijskega managementa. Slovenian translation by www.baccarat.net/sl/, July 2020.
Paul Otlet, pionero de la Gestión de la Información. Spanish translation by Jose, Ibidem Group, Aug 2021.
Paul Otlet, Pionjär inom Information Management. Swedish translation by Weronika Pawlak, 2017.
பால் ஆட்லெட், தக வல் மேலாணையத்தின் முன்னோடி. Tamil translationslation by Sathya at www.vikatan.com, 2017.
Paul Otlet พอลความคิดผู้บุกเบิกการจัดการข้อมูล. Thai translation by Ashna Bhatt, 2018.
Ortağı Paul Otlet’in, Bilgi Yönetimi, Öncü. Turkish translation by Zoltan Solak, 2018.
Поль Отле, Піонер Інформаційного Менеджменту. Ukrainian translation by Anna Matesh, 2016.
پاول اوٹلیٹ, سرخیل اول انفارمیشن مینجمنٹ Urdu translation by ClothingRIC, 2018.

Paul Otlet (portrait) was born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1868. His monumental book Traité de documentation. (Brussels, 1934) was both central and symbolic in the development of information science - then called "Documentation" - in the first half of the twentieth century. In addition, it reminds us of something that has been too widely forgotten: That this field did have a lively existence in the early decades of the twentieth century and a sophistication concerning theory and information technology that now commonly surprises people.
    Paul Otlet was the most central figure in the development of Documentation. He struggled tirelessly for decades with the central technical, theoretical, and organizational aspects of a problem central to society: How to make recorded knowledge available to those who need it. He thought deeply and wrote endlessly as he designed, developed, and initiated ambitious solutions at his Institute in Brussels.
    Towards the end of working life he summarized his ideas in two large books of synthesis, the Traité de documentation in 1934 and Monde: Essai d'universalisme in 1935. In recent years there has been a renewed interest in Otlet's work. In 1989 the Traité, so long out of print, was in reprinted. In 1990 his biographer, Prof W. Boyd Rayward, of the University of New South Wales, published an annotated English translation of a selection of Otlet's best writings: Otlet, Paul. International Organization and Dissemination of Knowledge: Selected Essays. (FID 684). Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1990.
    Now Otlet's ideas and writings are again an active ingredient in information science, having historical interest and also a contemporary interest in relation, for example, to the nature of documents and of hypertext. It is now a century since Otlet and LaFontaine began their ambitious program which continues as the International Federation for Information and Documentation FID. (Adapted from the Preface to the Spanish edition of Otlet's Traité).   Otlet and LaFontaine were also active in the founding of the Union of International Associations.
Resources
- selected writings about Otlet, his work, and his successors.
- Otlet's archives and museum is now available again at Rue des Passages 15, B-7000 Mons,in Mons, Belgium, as The Mundaneum, which has started to publish research based on these archives, notably Cent ans de l'Office International de Bibliographie : 1895 - 1995 ; les premisses du Mundaneum. - Mons : Editions Mundaneum, 1995. ISBN 2-930071-05-2. (Review in German).
- - HyperOtlet project and a new open access edition of Traité de documentation, 2021. See also a facsimile edition.
- Alex Wright. Cataloging the World: Paul Otlet and the Birth of the Information Age. Oxford University Press, 2014.
- Special issue on Otlet Transnational Associations 2003, nos 1-2. pdf
- Francoise Levie: L'homme qui voulait classer le monde [The man who wanted to classifiy the the world]. Biography and documentary film.
- Rayward's 1975 biography is now available online.
- Documentary by B. Rayward (speaking English) and F. Fueg (speaking French): Alle kennis van de wereld (Noorderlicht, 9). Available at http://archive.org/details/paulotlet.
- A wry comment from France:   When America discovers Paul Otlet.

Go to Biographical Index.